Pavement



A. T. RHODES.

PAVEMENT. APPLlCATION FILED APR- 4, I919.

Patented Aug. 10, 1920.

a/mufieygnyenibv 3 7 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

PAVEMENT.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 10, 1920.

Application filed. April 4, 1919. Serial No. 287,474.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALBERT T. Rrronns, a citizen of the United States, residing at WVorcester, in the county of Worcester and Commonwealth of Massachusetts, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Pavement, of which the following, together with the accompanying drawings, is a specification.

My present invention relates to a pavement in which blocks of granite, brick, or other material, is exposed to the wearing surface of the pavement, and my invention has for its object to provide a wearing surface possessing a uniform resistance to the wear of the traflic passing over it. The method of laying the pavement in accordance with my invention is hereinafter described and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 denotes a transverse sectional view of a street pavement having the wearing surface, of the pavement composed in part of rectangular granite blocks and belonging to that class of pavement commonly known as block pavement.

Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional view of a paved street, in which a portion of the wearing surface is composed of pieces of broken rock of irre ular outline.

.Similar re erence characters refer to similar parts in both figures.

In laying my improved pavement, I give the proper sha e and crown to the roadbed a upon which Ilay a foundation I), preferably composed of broken stone, sand and hydraulic cement, mixed in any given proportions as determined by the judgment of the builder. Upon this foundation, as illustrated in Fig. 1, I place a series of paving stones or blocks 0 suitably spaced apart, and in the joints between the blocks 0 I place a joint filler d filling the space from the foundation b to about one-half or two-thirds the height of the blocks 0. This filler may be composed of sand and hydraulic cement to which finely broken stone may be added. As thus far described, the method of laying the block pavement illustrated in Fig. l corresponds to the method now generally prac- 'tised in laying pavement of this class.

My improvements consists in providing a uniform wearing surface for the pavement,

and to this end I make a test of the wearing surface of the blocks 0, and when this has been determined, I provide a composition for, filling the upper portion of the joints between the blocks 0 having the same wearingresistance as the blocks, as shown at c, Fig. l. The filler e is formed by the addition to hydraulic cement of some hardening material, either as a substitute for or in addition to sand, such for example as carborundum, corundum, alundum, or similar material, thereby forming the upper part of the filler e of the same resistance to wear as the blocks 0. When a pavement is thus laid, the joints between the blocks will offer the same resistance to wear as the blocks themselves, thereby maintaining a smooth upper surface when subjected to the abrasive action of trailic. The entire joint between the blocks 0 may be treated as above described if desired, but the concrete filling (1 .serves the purpose offsupporting the hard filler c and is less expensive to compound.

It is now a common practice to determine the resistance to wear of different grades of pavingblocks, but so far as I am aware it is broadly new to provide a joint filler having approximately the same wearing surface as the blocks themselves.

In Fig. 2 I have shown a modification in which the blocks of, of irre ular shape, are embedded in a plastic material d, composed preferably of hydraulic cement and carborundum, corundum or alundum, or similar hardening material, in sufficient proportions to render said plastic material when set to have the same wearing resistance as the blocks 0. The blocks 0' may be mixed with the plastic material d before the latter is applied, or they may be forced into it by pressure.

The joint filler c, as shown in Fig. 1, or the plastic surface coating 03, as shown in Fig. 2, should present the same resistance to wear as the paving blocks 0 or as the irregular pieces c, and this wearing resistance may be produced by the mixture of any hard material, such as those I have described, with either hydraulic cement, bitumen, mastic, pitch, or other plastic material now employed in road paving. The object of my invention is secured by filling the interstices between the blocks 0 or a with a plastic material having substantially the same wearing surface as the blocks embedded therein.

I claim,

1. A pavement consisting of a suitablei foundation, a series of paving blocks sup ported thereon and spaced Y 2. A pavement consistingv of a suitable foundation for a series of paving blocks,

paving-blocks supported by said foundation and/spaced apart, a joint filler of plastic material for the lower portion of the inter stices between said block, and a joint'filler for the upper portion of the interstices 'beapart, and a. oint filler 1n the interstices contalnlng calf tween said blocks flush with the upper surface of the block and containing carborundum or a like material to increase the hard ness of said upper portion.

3. A pavement consisting of a plastic foundation of'loroken stone, sand and hydraulic cement, a series of granite paving blocks supported thereon and spaced apart, a joint filler in the interstices having its upper or wearing surfacecontaining -car-- borunduln or like ,n1aterial to render the wearing surface of the joint filler of equal resistance to wear as the paving blocks. 7

ALBERT TAYLOR RHODES. Witnesses: .7 f.- V

WALTER S. LOBINGIER, GHAs-A. DE SHoN. 

